Technical Manager (Hybrid)

Location: Unit 7a, Odhams Trading Estate, St Albans Road, Watford, WD24 7RY

Salary: Competitive

Job Type: Permanent, Full Time. 40 hours per week, with core office hours of 08:30-17:00, Monday to Friday, including a 30-minute lunch break. The role is hybrid, with an average requirement to work from the office a minimum of 3 days per week. Office days will need to remain flexible to meet business and operational requirements.

We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Technical Manager to lead our technical agenda and ensure Vegetarian Express continues to meet all relevant food safety, quality, regulatory and customer requirements across the production, storage and distribution of our products. This is a key role within our Operations function, with responsibility for maintaining technical integrity across the business, leading the Technical/QA function, and ensuring we remain audit-ready and compliant. You will play a critical role in protecting our customers, our products and our reputation, while supporting innovation, business growth and continuous improvement. You'll be a hands-on technical leader who is equally comfortable working on the operational floor, engaging with suppliers and customers, and presenting technical performance and risk to senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities:

• Certification, compliance and audit readiness; Own and deliver BRCGS and other external certification programmes, including gap analysis, corrective action planning, documentation, training, audit management and continuous improvement activity. Lead the response to customer audit non-conformances, including root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and close-out with customer technical teams. Act as the primary technical contact for customer audits, third-party auditors and enforcement authorities. Maintain permanent audit readiness across the site. Provide technical leadership for own-brand conversion, packaging and product compliance projects.
• Food safety, quality systems and technical governance; Own, develop and maintain the HACCP plan, ensuring risk assessments are current and operationally embedded. Build and maintain the quality management system, including specifications, traceability, labelling compliance, supplier approval and raw material risk profiling. Develop, implement and maintain accurate product specifications. Provide expert oversight of allergen management and controls across a multi-temperature environment. Establish and manage testing regimes, product verification, shelf-life validation and environmental monitoring. Investigate customer and supplier complaints and non-conformances, driving corrective action and trend analysis. Ensure that technical governance is in place to deliver audit compliance with respect to internal, external, legal and customer requirements. Monitor departmental KPIs and develop a quality culture. Provide leadership and direction to ensure that within the function people are kept engaged, focused, developed and delivering to their potential. Keep up to date with relevant legislation and implement changes where required. Work closely with Supply Chain and Operations with the introduction of new raw materials, packaging materials and products. Delivery of customer complaint information and other monthly information as requested by internal and external stakeholders.
• Commercial support and continuous improvement; Support new product development and product changes from a technical and legal perspective. Manage supplier technical performance and raw material specifications. Provide technical support in customer onboarding and tenders, where certification and compliance are increasingly a commercial requirement. Report monthly to the Director of Operations on technical KPIs, audit status, complaints and programme progress. Manage the technical resource within budget and set realistic project schedules. Consistently deliver high-quality service to both internal and external stakeholders. Provide day-to-day technical support to suppliers, logistics and internal teams to maintain continuity of product and ingredient supply.

Essential Qualifications & Experience:

• HACCP Level 3 qualification.
• Full clean driving licence.
• Proven experience as a Technical Manager, Food Safety Manager or Senior QA Manager within food manufacturing.
• Experience managing customer, supplier and third-party audits.
• Experience handling and closing out non-conformances under time pressure.
• Demonstrable auditing skills.
• Proven experience in the technical aspects of food storage and distribution.
• Strong working knowledge of HACCP, UK food law, food safety, labelling and allergen legislation.

What We Offer:

• Competitive salary based on experience.
• 33 days' holiday, including public holidays.
• Option to purchase up to 3 additional days' annual leave.
• Cash health plan, including money back towards dental, optical, physiotherapy and other eligible treatments.
• Life assurance - 4 x salary.
• Staff discount on all products.
• Pension - 3% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution.
• Hybrid working, with a minimum of 3 days per week in the office, with flexibility around business needs.

Candidates with experience of; Senior Technical Manager, Food Technical Manager, Food Safety Manager, Senior Food Safety Manager, Technical Services Manager, Quality Manager, Senior Quality Manager, may also be considered.